Here are some Olympic Inspired picture books:
G is for Gold Medal: An Olympics Alphabet, by Brad Herzog and illustrated by Doug Bowles, Sleeping Bear Press, 2011—Younger children will love the rhyming text for each letter of the alphabet and older children will appreciate the interesting facts and anecdotes relayed on the side of each brightly and beautifully illustrated page. I learned a lot, too!
Dream Big: Michael Jordan and the Pursuit of Olympic Gold, by Deloris Jordan and illustrated by Barry Root, A Paula Wiseman Book, 2012 - Written by Michael Jordan's mother this book tells the story of young Michael learning that with hard work anything is possible.
How to Train with a T.Rex and Win 8 Gold Medals, by Michael Phelps with Alan Abrahamson and illustrated by ward Jenkins, Simon & Schuster Books for Young People, 2009—This fun book has an illustrated version of Olympian Michael Phelps telling the reader about what he did to train leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics using funny comparisons like the fact that how many miles he racked up swimming over 6 years equals the same length as swimming from his hometown in Baltimore to the North Pole and back twice!
Olympig!, by Victoria Jamieson, Dial Book for Young Readers, 2012 - Boomer is the first pig to compete in the Animal Olympics, but will losing every event stop him from competing? Read to find out.
The Smurf Olympics, by Peyo, Papercut, 2012—This graphic novel features one complete Smurf Olympic story and a number of other sports related comics. This was a hit with my sons , plus it was fun to re-discover the Smurfs which I adored as a child.
Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper, by Ann Malaspina and illustrations by Eric Velasquez, Albert Whitman & Company, 2012—This picture book tells the true story of Alice Coachman, who in the 1948 London Olympics made history when she became the first African-American woman to win Olympic Gold. This inspiring story starts when she is a girl in the 1930’s and ends at the Olympics.
WATCHING CANADA's HOCKEY TEAM WIN GOLD IN 2014 (VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING)!
Choose books based on the Winter Games or Summer games or based on the sports your family likes!
Olympic Games
Go to your local library with your family to find books about the Olympics!
JOURNALING Question Prompt:
Write out one or more of the following questions in your Family Theme Day Scrapbook or on a piece of paper to glue in your scrapbook: What are your favourite Olympic events? Which Olympic event would you like to try? What do you know about the host country of this year’s Olympics?
How to encourage your child to write:
Choose the level of your child:
Toddler/Preschool – discuss the answer(s) out loud first and have your child draw a picture of the answer
Preschool/Kindergarten – discuss the answer(s) out loud first and write the answer down for him/her leaving one word for him/her to write out himself/herself with your help. You could also encourage him/her to draw a picture as well.
Early Grade School– have your child either write out the answer himself/herself (encourage phonetic spelling) without your help, or offer to help with spelling each word out loud one word at a time.
Grade School– have your child write a sentence or two on his/her own and then read over and discuss the response. (You decide whether to correct the spelling or not)
Older Child– have your child write a longer response (paragraph).
As A Challenge– instead of a question ask your older child to write a story or poem about the Olympics
Try to find some non-fiction books all about the Olympics:
Amazing Olympic Records, by Paul Hoblin, The Child's World, 2013 - A great look at amazing and inspiring athletes.
Eyewitness Books: Olympics, written by Chris Oxlade and David Ballheimer, DK Publishing, 2005—Eyewitness Books have a lot of facts and would be better suited for older children to read but younger children will love to pour over the numerous photographs.
Modern Olympics, by Haydn Middleton, Heinemann Library, 2004 - a good summary fo the modern games.
The Olympic Records, by Moira Butterliefd, Sea-to-Sea, 2012 - A look at the fastest man and woman, the highest and strongest, etc. etc.
Olympic Trivia, by Marty Gitlin, SportsZone, 2016 - how much do you really know about the Olympics?
Winter Olympic Sports: Paralympics Sports Events, by Robin Johnson, Crabtree Publishing, 2010—This little pocket book is a thorough look at what the winter Paralympics is all about. There are more titles in this as well like Alpine and Freestyle Skiing; and Snowboard, plus there are eight titles on the Summer Olympics.
The World of Olympics, by Nick Hunter, Heinemann Library, 2012—this is an all around good over-view of the Olympics suitable for different ages in your family. It has facts but not huge amounts of text and has bright photographs as well.
Reading and Writing
BOOKS:
Here are some books about the ancient Olympics in Greece:
The Ancient Greek Olympics, by Richard Woff, Oxford University Press, 1999—Older kids might enjoy this look at the Ancient Greek Olympics.
The First Olympics of Ancient Greece, by Lisa M. Bolt Simons, Capstone Press, 2015 - An easy reading book for a good overview of the ancient games.
How to be an Anicent Greek Athlete, written by Jaqueline Morley and illustrate by Dave Antram, National Geographic, 2008—Using mostly illustrations and some photos this book gives a great overview of the various events the ancient Greek Athletes participated in.
The Original Olympics, by Stewart Ross, Wayland, 1996—Featuring lots of photographs of ancient relics this book would appeal to older kids who are interested in the ancient Greeks.
Sports Heroes of Ancient Greece, by Paul Mason, Crabtree Publishing Company, 2011—This is a great book for different ages of children and a good overview of the Ancient Greek Olympics , events, heroes, and time.
The Story of the Olympics, by Minna Lacey and illustrated by Paddy Mounter, Usborne Publishing, 2012 - written as an easy chapter book with 8 chapters this gives a great overview of the history of the ancient games.
Through Time Olympics: From Ancient Greece to the Present Day, written by Richard Platt and illustrated by Manuela Cappon, Kingfisher, 2012 - It doesn't focus much on the ancient games but does have a great timeline of the games history.
You Wouldn’t want to be a Greek Athlete: Races you’d Rather Not Run, written by Michael Ford and illustrated by David Antram, Franklin watts, 2004—My eldest loves this series of books with their humorous illustrations and interesting facts.
Here are some books based on specific Olympic Sports:
Bobsled and Luge, by Laura Hamilton Waxman, Amicus High Interest, 2018 - an easy to read book with an overview of these winter sports. (Others in the series include: Figure Skating, Ice Hockey and Curling, Skiing, Snowboarding, and Speed Skating).
The Olympic Sports: Marital Arts, Boxing, and Other Combat Sports, by Jason Page, Crabtree Publishing Company, 2008—this is one book in a series of others featuring different Olympic sports . The book are nice reviews of the various events featured in the Olympic Games and feature photographs and facts. Other titles include: Cycling, Shooting and Show Jumping; Basketball, Soccer and Other Ball Games; Sprints, Hurdles and Other Track Events; and four others.
Swimming and Diving, by Clive Gifford, Amicus, 2012 - This series has a bit more detail and covers a lot of infomration on these Olympic events. (Others in the series include: Basketball and other Ball Sports, Combat Sports, cycling, Gymnastics, Track and Field).